Sin City Rollers put up a good fight as skaters battled it out at the West Coast Invitational

Geraldton Roller Derby team, Sin City Rollers, headed down to Perth over the weekend to compete in the West Coast Invitational.

Games took place at The Rise in Maylands with members competing in multiple mixed games and in team events.

The event played host to leagues from across the nation, including Adelaide Roller Derby, Albany Roller Derby, and several teams from the Perth metropolitan area.

For those unfamiliar with the sport, a game of roller derby, known as a bout, is played between two teams, each made up of five players at a time on the track.

Each on-field team is made up of four blockers, including a pivot, plus one jammer, the pivot is identified by the striped helmet cover, and the jammer is likewise identified by the helmet cover with a star on each side.

Each game runs for 60 minutes, made up of 30-minute halves, which are further broken down into two-minute jams with teams scoring points by helping their jammer lap the opposition team.

With a total of five games at the weekend event, Geraldton skaters Sin City Rollers played one main game against the Dread Pirates Rollers.

The game was very close but saw the Dread Pirates from Kwinana win 145 to 126.

The team also had opportunities as individual skaters to play in a potluck scrim and an all-genders scrim (match).

Club president Roxy Grant was full of praise for the Geraldton team.

“Strong strategic moves that became important when supporting our jammers to score points, it was a hard game but lots of opportunity to improve, happy with the calm way we tackled the challenge,” she said

“Pinky our ‘bouting’ skater and trainer has put a lot of work into our defensive training and it was evident.”

The Geraldton team’s experienced skaters were down in numbers this year, with several players out for the season.

Fortunately, the rules allowed the local team to add three experienced and committed players from Northwest (Port Headland) and one player from Margret River.

The potluck scrim which saw four Geraldton skaters choosing to play on the black team took the win 193 to 137 in a well-fought and gritty victory.

Grant saw the popularity of the sport increasing, even with setbacks.

“COVID has knocked around the derby numbers in regional areas with Geraldton and Albany the only two regional teams active,” she said.

“We have a strong contingent of new skaters coming through and we are going into our 10th year.

“We are focusing on proving that skating and derby can be great for mental health, fitness and self-esteem welcoming all genders, all ages and skill levels.”